RCMP say woman seriously injured during forcible confinement in Prince George

Prince George RCMP say a woman was seriously injured Saturday after a kidnapping outside a downtown motel in broad daylight ended in a car crash about 10 kilometres away.

Police say the victim was airlifted to hospital in Vancouver. 

A suspect in the forcible confinement was arrested four hours later after officers surrounded a room at the same Econo Lodge motel the woman was taken from, said Cpl Jennifer Cooper.

RCMP say witnesses reported a woman screaming for help as a man forced her into a sedan in the motel parking lot of the Econo Lodge at about 3 pm Saturday. 

Soon after, police say the sedan was involved in a single-vehicle crash about 10 kilometres away, and the woman was "ejected" from the vehicle. 

RCMP said witnesses reported the sedan driver then tried to "violently carjack" several vehicles that stopped to help at the accident scene. 

Several hours later, at dusk, more than seven RCMP vehicles rushed to the Econo Lodge, where officers surrounded a second-floor room.

Some motel guests, who were ordered to leave their rooms, watched the standoff unfold from the parking lot. 

As an RCMP dog barked, officers ordered a man to surrender.

In a statement, police said they had fired a "non-lethal 40 millimetre round" into the door of a motel room before arresting Farbn Marvin Japow.

The incident unfolded beside a busy road, just two blocks from where people were lining up to vote at Prince George's main Civic Centre polling station on election day.

Japow faces six charges, including forcible confinement and assault with a weapon. 

RCMP say Japow and the victim knew each other.